Patentable/Patents/US-8330434
US-8330434

Power supply that determines energy consumption and outputs a signal indicative of energy consumption

PublishedDecember 11, 2012
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

A power supply includes a rectifier having an AC input and a DC output and a power factor correction (PFC) preregulator, coupled to the rectifier, that increases a power factor of the power supply. The PFC preregulator includes a controller that integrates an input power to determine energy consumption and outputs a signal indicative of the energy consumption.

Patent Claims
27 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A power supply, comprising: a rectifier having an AC input and a DC output; and a power factor correction (PFC) preregulator, coupled to the rectifier, that increases a power factor of the power supply, wherein the PFC preregulator includes a PFC controller that integrates an input power to determine energy consumption and outputs a signal indicative of the energy consumption, and wherein the PFC controller further determines a power state of the power supply and outputs the signal in response to determining the power supply is in a higher power state and refrains from outputting the signal in response to determining the power supply is in a lower power state having a power consumption intermediate the higher power state and an OFF state.

2

2. The power supply of claim 1 , wherein: the PFC controller has a non-volatile memory that stores a calibration parameter utilized by the PFC controller to determine the energy consumption.

3

3. The power supply of claim 1 , wherein the energy consumption includes an energy consumption of an input load in the PFC preregulator.

4

4. The power supply of claim 1 , wherein the PFC controller determines a time base for integrating the input power from an AC line frequency.

5

5. The power supply of claim 1 , wherein the signal indicative of the energy consumption indicates average power over a time interval.

6

6. The power supply of claim 1 , and further comprising a DC-to-DC converter coupled to the PFC preregulator.

7

7. The power supply of claim 1 , and further comprising an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter coupled to the rectifier.

8

8. The power supply of claim 1 , wherein the PFC controller controls the PFC preregulator independently of the energy consumption.

9

9. The power supply of claim 1 , wherein the power supply reports at least one of a set including power consumption and energy consumption to a downstream load coupled to receive power from the power supply.

10

10. The power supply of claim 1 , wherein the power supply reports at least one of a set including power consumption and energy consumption to a power monitoring system communicatively coupled to the power supply.

11

11. A method of operating a power supply, said method comprising: rectifying an AC input; applying, by a power factor correction (PFC) preregulator, power factor correction to increase a power factor of the power supply; determining, by a PFC controller of the PFC preregulator, energy consumption by integrating an input power; determining, by the PFC controller, a power state of the power supply; and outputting, by the PFC controller, a signal indicative of the energy consumption in response to determining the power supply is in a higher power state and refraining from outputting the signal in response to determining the power supply is in a lower power state having a power consumption intermediate the higher power state and an OFF state.

12

12. The method of claim 11 , and further comprising: storing a calibration parameter utilized by the controller to determine the energy consumption in a non-volatile memory.

13

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining energy consumption includes calculating energy consumption of an input load in the PFC preregulator.

14

14. The method of claim 11 , and further comprising the PFC controller determining from an AC line frequency a time base for integrating the input power.

15

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein outputting a signal indicative of the energy consumption comprises outputting a signal indicating average power over a time interval.

16

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein said applying power factor correction includes applying power factor correction independently of the energy consumption.

17

17. The method of claim 11 , and further comprising the power supply reporting at least one of a set including power consumption and energy consumption to a downstream load coupled to receive power from the power supply.

18

18. The method of claim 11 , and further comprising the power supply reporting at least one of a set including power consumption and energy consumption to a power monitoring system communicatively coupled to the power supply.

19

19. A circuit for controlling a power supply, the circuit comprising: a power factor correction (PFC) controller that controls current flow in a PFC preregulator to increase a power factor of the power supply, wherein the PFC controller integrates an input power to determine energy consumption and outputs a signal indicative of the energy consumption; and wherein the PFC controller further determines a power state of the power supply and outputs the signal in response to determining the power supply is in a higher power state and refrains from outputting the signal in response to determining the power supply is in a lower power state having a power consumption intermediate the higher power state and an OFF state.

20

20. The circuit of claim 19 , wherein: the PFC controller includes a non-volatile memory that stores a calibration parameter utilized by the PFC controller to determine the energy consumption.

21

21. The circuit of claim 19 , wherein the energy consumption includes an energy consumption of an input load within the PFC preregulator.

22

22. The circuit of claim 19 , wherein the PFC controller determines a time base for integrating the input power from an AC line frequency.

23

23. The circuit of claim 19 , wherein the signal indicative of the energy consumption indicates average power over a time interval.

24

24. The circuit of claim 19 wherein the circuit is embodied in an integrated circuit.

25

25. The circuit of claim 24 , wherein the integrated circuit reports at least one of a set including power consumption and energy consumption to a power monitoring system communicatively coupled to the integrated circuit.

26

26. The circuit of claim 19 , wherein the PFC controller controls the PFC preregulator independently of the energy consumption.

27

27. The circuit of claim 24 , wherein the integrated circuit reports at least one of a set including power consumption and energy consumption to a downstream load coupled to receive power from the integrated circuit.

Classification Codes (CPC)

Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.

Patent Metadata

Filing Date

September 30, 2008

Publication Date

December 11, 2012

Want to explore more patents?

Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.

Citation & reuse

Analysis on this page is generated by Patentable — an AI-powered patent intelligence platform. AI-generated summaries, explanations, and analysis may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL below. Patent abstracts and claims are USPTO public domain.

Cite as: Patentable. “Power supply that determines energy consumption and outputs a signal indicative of energy consumption” (US-8330434). https://patentable.app/patents/US-8330434

© 2026 Patentable. All rights reserved.

Patentable is a research and drafting-assistant tool, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Documents we generate are drafts for review by a licensed patent attorney.